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Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Topsy-Turvy Stand Tutorial Part 2

Ok, so since the first post I made with this stand was so popular I thought I would post more pictures of how the stand was made. I had some questions the first time, so hopefully this post will better show how to make the stand. You can find the first post here.

I start off with my pipe screwed in to my flange which is attached to my board. (Ok, so I don't have a pictue of the seperate parts so I used the old picture from my previous post). The flange is a little bulky so make sure you cover it with something so the cake will sit flat. (I covered it with left over fondant, and then placed sand on the board to make the cake sit level). You may need to cut out a portion of the bottom cake to fit over the flange.

Then slide your first tier over the pipe and onto the board.

Next, slide the PVC over the pipe, and insert it into the bottom tier of the cake.

Ok, now you need to decide how much of a gap you want between the tiers of cake. I was making pretty large decorations to fit between the tiers so I made the gap pretty large. Then mark where you want the tier to fall and at what angle you want the next tier to sit at.

Then cut your PVC pipe to the angle you marked.

Then slide your next tier over the pipe to rest on the PVC. Remember under each tier I have acrylic plates with holes in the center. The holes are only large enough to fit the black pipe through. The PVC pipe is to large, and therefore the tier will rest on the PVC. You can also use wood plates with holes cut in them instead of acrylic. The tiers will not slide, or turn, or twist on the pole. The cake will stay in place! Trust me. Then slide your PVC into the cake and again mark how large you want the next gap.

Now at this point I had to run to Home Depot because my black pipe was not large enough to fit into the top tier. I usually like to have the black pipe inserted about halfway into the top tier in order to hold it into place. (I cover the pipe in electrical tape so it does not come in contact with the cake). I did not measure my pipe before starting this process, so I had to unstack everything and restack it on the new pipe. Since I was running low on time these are the last pictures I have.(Sorry)! I usually like to cover the PVC in matching fondant before decorating around it. I used a little piping gel to make the fondant stick to the PVC pipe.

I hope everyone had a wonderful labor day weekend. I cannot believe summer is already over. I am looking forward to my favorite time of year, and my favorite holiday coming up. I cannot wait to start decorating, and making treats for Halloween! yay! I hope that this tutotrial answered some questions for people. If not please feel free to ask and I will try to explain.

Hi Barbara,Thanks for your question. I usually transport each tier seperatly and then just stack up the cake when I get to the location. The cakes transport with the pipe inside and then it is easy to stack up. Thanks again.

Hi, lov e your tutorial.how much you would charge for something like this. A friend requested to mAke her one like this but pricing is my big problem. And more if the structure is more complicated to acComplish.

I don't really like to give out advice on how much you should be charging. you need to look at the cost of your materials, and your time spent. Then decide how much your time is worth to you and price accordingly.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for posting this tutorial. My little girl has been wanting a cool cake like this and i can finally do it after a year or so of looking for some help. You are so talented with your hands. I love your detailing on everything. I do have one question, how do you know where to put the whole on the cakes that will be angled on the pipe? I thought you do it in the center, but then i thought well if you do it in the center and put it on the pipe it will rip through the cake. What do you do?

Thanks natsplat! In order to get the cake on the pole at the angle I want, I use the pre-cut pipe as my guide,I hold the cake on the angle of the pipe and use a plastic dowel to start the hole. Then, I widen the hole to fit the PVC through the cake without damaging the cake tier. I hope that makes sense and helps you out a bit. It might take two people inorder to get it to work for you! Thanks again!

Just found this. Great info! Just a thought - is the weight of the cake an issue against the pipe/pvc? I'm imagining the cake side against the pipe pulling itself through the pipe due to gravity. How is this not an issue? The angle of the pvc cut? Thanks! Ruby

Thank you so very much for this tutorial! I have a client who would like a cake like this covered in buttercream instead of fondant. Have you tried it before? Would you recommend it? I've never done a cake like this...and I'm sure you can remember how intimidating it is the first go round! Any feedback would be great!

Thanks for your comment. Mostly, I prefer to work in fondant. To answer your question no, I have never attempted this cake in bc. My only thought would be that bc would be harder to work with since placing the tier on the steel post can be messy because cake will get onto the tier. If it is in fondant you can brush the cake off with bc it would be more difficult. Also, since this is your first time you may have to adjust the tiers a couple times so the they sit on the pole the way you want which may be diffcult with a bc cake. I would suggest practicing first before selling this cake in bc to a client. The first time you attempt this it will be tricky until you know what you are doing.

Hi Nan,PVC is used in cake decorating all of the time. I havent done to much research on the food safety aspect however, if the PVC is safe for use in carrying drinking water than it should be fine to use for cake decorating. The PVC will not be in contact with the cake for a long period of time. If you still don't feel safe about using PVC then simply wrap the pipe in syran wrap before putting yuor cake on the pole.

Hi again! This was the post I originally found your blog on but then I was distracted by your incredible Nutcracker! So more thanks here for sharing - I am so pleased to have found something on this style of Topsy Turvy that can be created in a DIY manner. So far my research had only pulled expensive cake stacking systems that although would be fantastic, would prove a nightmare for myself and my customers in regard to hire fees, security and also return of system. This is feel I can make and simply include the purchase costs in my pricing. Ok, probably too much useless info for you! I am just trying to convey how grateful I am at finding your tute!

Brilliant tutorial. Am I right to assume that the PVC pipe that goes through the cake actually rests on the cake card that each tier is on? Just making sure I don't have to cut a hole through my cake card so that the PVC pipe rests directly on it.

only one comment. It would have been better for you to let the pipe come in contact with the cake instead of the electrical tape. PVC pipes are food grade as they carry drinking water. Electrical tape is not and has many harmful chemicals in it

Hi Anonymous,If you read through the tutorial and looked at the pictures you would notice that at no point did I say to wrap the PVC in electric tape. The pole running up through the middle of the cake is wrapped in electric tape and then the PVC sits between this pole and the cake therefore the cake only comes in contact with the PVC. I hope that I have cleared this up for you and thank you for your knowledge on the chemical components of electrical tape.

I have a question When I insert a cake tier do I insert it at the same angle as the PVC pipe? Because if I insert it straight onto the metal rod then the fondant and cake would tear to achieve the tilted angle of the PVC pipe I hope I made my question clear �� But I would like to thank you for this amazing tutorial this is the best ever tutorial on the internet for a topsy turvy cake and to build a cake support structure ��